Bent Glass Heart

So my mom works in the medical field. She also has everything that she can immediately think of wanting. Makes mother's day presents hard.

For Mother's Day I decided to do something truely unique. A local scrap shop came into a crapload of glass pipettes that they were trying to sell to recycle and give them a use. It struck an idea into my head.


PLEASE BE CAREFUL. ONLY DO THIS WITH A PARENT'S CONSENT AND A RESPONSIBLE MIND.

The torches are very very freakin hot. I mean you're bending glass.

I assume no responsibility for your actions if you get hurt, I burnt myself 3 times making this.

Step 1: Tools and Supplies

Tools
- Propane Torch
- Propane Tank
- Pliers

Supplies
- Clear drying glue that works on glass
- Glass pipettes

Step 2: Get the Hang of Bending Glass

It's really a simple procedure.

Heat up a section of the glass pipette, bend it how you want it, pull it out of the flame and hold it in place til it hardens (it only takes a few seconds)

It's really freaking cool to see the glass glow red at night.

Step 3: Make the Largest Heart

Using what you've figured out from bending the glass, make the first and largest heart. It's simple enough, but it can take some practice.

Step 4: Start Making Smaller Hearts

For each heart, make it a little bit smaller than the last. I just measured this out by eye but you can do it however you want.

Step 5: Rinse and Repeat

Keep doing this til you have enough that you feel you can make a decent 3d figure.

When you finish, heat up the bottom joint (leading to the extra pipette length) and as it cools, keep wigglin it back and forth til it breaks right at the heated joint.

Step 6: Use the Glue to Start Making 1 Half of a Heart

step title says it all.

Step 7: Bend a Hook

While that is drying, take a pipette and make a hook with a reasonably long extention. This way you can make sure it gets good contact on the top AND bottom of the inside of the heart.

Step 8: Glue the Hook to the First Half of the Heart

Place the hook inside the heart (with the hook part sticking out of the top like an ornament hook) and glue it into place.

again having no pics of the process bites me in the butt

Step 9: Make the Second Half

While you're waiting for that to finish drying, make the second half of the heart.

Step 10: Glue the Halves Together

Glue the halves together and ta-daa. You should have a 3 dimensional glass heart made of glass pipettes. It's pretty awesome isn't it?

Step 11: Give to the Madre

She'll love it. She should anyways. I mean you put how many hours into this? I'd hope she likes it.